Plan confirmed, now I have two concerns

[nstar]

Hello, these boards are great I have gotten tons of information.
Little background, we filed Ch13 in Jan 07 in TX, plan was confirmed on 3/28/07, now I see that an order was sustained to Disallow the exemptions on our 2004 Chevy p/u, 1999 Ford Ranger, 1978 CJ Jeep and a travel trailer (which we gave back) and a utility trailer. Attorney says he doesn't know about this yet. I looked it up on Pacer 4/5/07. Can anyone tell me what this means. I thought that atty correct this before the confirmation, because they were listed incorrectly, could it be because they only changed it on the forms/schedules and not in a formal manner?

Second question is: We have a lot (no loans associated with it) next to our home that is currently mortgaged. If the opportunity came up can we sell it and keep the money or would it have go to trustee?


Thanks in advance for any advice.

[SinkingFast]

About the lot,.............. Technically, NO, you cannot sell it. Not without getting permission from the Trustee first.

Once you filed BK, you established a BK Estate. The BK Estate is all your property and assets. The BK Estate exists for the entire term of your Ch 13 Payment Plan, AND the Trustee is in control of the BK Estate. You can't sell or liquidate any asset that's included in the BK Estate without first getting permission of the Trustee.

Your Vehicles Exemptions may be a situation of your family composition and the $$$ value of how many vehicles you own.

Texas allows for:

1 two-, three- or four wheeled motor vehicle per member of family or single adult who holds a driver’s license (or who operates vehicle for someone else who does not have a license);

In the Personal Property Exemption up to "$30,000 total ($60,000 for head of family)".

Reference the following Link for info on Texas Bankruptcy Exemptions.

http://www.bankruptcyinformation.com/TX_exemp.htm

In Ch 13, tho, your Plan Payments would have to equal or exceed what your Creditors would get if you filed Ch 7 and your Non Exempt assets were liquidated.

Possibly you have more vehicles than you have licensed drivers in your family and/or the $$$ amounts of the values added together exceeds what you're paying back in your Plan.

[nstar]

Thanks for the information.
Since the exemptions are disallowed, does this mean that the trustee can sell them?

[lrprn]

Since the exemptions are disallowed, does this mean that the trustee can sell them?

If the vehicle exemptions are indeed disallowed, then yes, the trustee *could* decide to sell the ones he/she thinks is worth the effort in dollar return. The 2004 Chevy pickup is most at risk.

It's possible that your lawyer could file amended forms if the original forms are incorrect. (Of course, it would have been better to have done so before the trustee acted.) Please talk to your attorney asap to confirm if Texas bk law allows you to keep these assets or not.

[SinkingFast]

The Trustee can indeed sell them if the Exemptions are not allowed.

Many Trustees have arrangements with local "Professionals" in various fields. Our attny told us when and where the "BK Court Auction" is held every month and even named the auctioneer.

While the Trustee can sell the vehicles, it's very often easier to make a deal with the Debtor/Filer. Trustees have costs to sell too. And the Trustee has no guarantee the property is gonna bring the stated paper value price at sale.

Even tho, it looks on paper like your property may be worth $10K, for example, the Trustee has no real guarantee it will actually bring $10K at Sale. Plus, the Trustee has to pay the auctioneer a cut. Many times, it's just easier to offer up a Settlement price to the Debtor/Filer.

That may happen in your case. Your attny may come back to you and say, "The Trustee will let you keep all your vehicles and the trailer if you pay an extra $100/mo for the duration of your Plan."

Not saying it will happen. Just that it can.

[nstar]

Thanks lrprn, that's what I figured, the attorney did make corrections before the confirmation, so I am confused and have put a couple of calls to the attorney already.

[quietsound]

do you own this vehicle in question? Or are you making payments for the vehicle.....I ask only that if you are making payments on the loan to this vehicle, wouldn't it be added in to your plan (the loan payments i mean) so that you could keep it............................

Or is it that you have it listed as an asset on and you own this outright.

[nstar]

do you own this vehicle in question? Or are you making payments for the vehicle.....I ask only that if you are making payments on the loan to this vehicle, wouldn't it be added in to your plan (the loan payments i mean) so that you could keep it............................

Or is it that you have it listed as an asset on and you own this outright.

The payments are added into the plan. I'm still waiting for attorney to answer question as to what is going on. This vehicle is one reason we filed when we did so we could keep it.